Tax levy up 1.8 percent
By Ashley M. Casey
Staff Writer
The North Syracuse Village Board of Trustees voted April 27 to approve the 2017-18 fiscal year budget. The appropriations for the 2017-18 budget total $4,934,726, which is a hair lower than the current fiscal year’s budget of $4,952,632.
“There’s some upgrades while still holding the [tax] increase of only 1.8 percent,” Mayor Gary Butterfield said.
Butterfield said the state-mandated tax cap allowed for a 1.51 percent increase but the village board passed a local law to exceed it. Butterfield said the tax levy exceeded the tax cap by less than $1,000.
Among the “upgrades” included in the 2017-18 budget are $3,500 for a metal detector/wand for the court; basement remodeling, car computer and new patrol SUV for the North Syracuse Police Department; improvements to the North Syracuse Fire Department stations and $26,000 for training instructors, $30,000 toward a new brush truck for the department of public works, and $6,000 for new code enforcement software.
The budget also includes $25,000 in engineering fees associated with the application for a TAP grant, which the village was awarded. The grant is worth over $1 million and will go toward paving and improving shoulders on Chestnut and Church streets.
Parks and recreation funding sees a significant boost in the 2017-18 budget:
- • Surveillance cameras, $10,000
- • Wi-Fi in the parks, $2,500
- • Picnic tables, $4,800
- • Gazebo roof repairs, $15,000
- • Community Center chairs, $2,000
The village is also looking for $60,000 in updates to the Community Center, which only added $10,000 to the tax levy, village officials said.
“It’s a workable budget using minimal resources to provide the same services,” Butterfield said. “We’ve done our due diligence. All the department heads, everybody chipped in. I think we have a good budget.”
How much will you pay in taxes?
The tax levy is $2,956,170, a 1.8 percent increase from the current year’s levy of $2,920,626. Residents will see their taxes rise just a few dollars.
Cicero homeowners, who make up 36.52 percent of the village’s tax base, will see a slight tax increase to $10.09 per $1,000 of assessed value. That’s a third of a percent more than the current fiscal year’s tax rate. A Cicero homeowner whose property is assessed at $120,000 will pay $1,211.35 for the 2017-18 year, $3.99 more than in 2016-17.
Clay residents, who make up 63.48 percent of the village’s tax base, will pay $236.42 per $1,000 of assessed value. Based on a partial assessment value, a Clay house worth $120,000 is assessed at $5,124 this year. The owner of that $120,000 house will pay the village $1,211.43 this year. That’s $4.04 more than in 2016-17.
